Disney drops effort to trademark Day of the Dead name; 'what were they thinking?'

View full sizePainted
skulls wait to be placed on a Dias de los Muertos altar at St Andrew
Church in Northeast Portland in 2006. The Mexican tradition of
remembering the dead predates the arrival of Europeans to North America.
Today, it is celebrated on November first and second, All Souls Day and
All Saints Day of the Catholic calendar.Faith Cathcart/The Oregonian

SANTA ANA, Calif. — Disney
has dropped an effort to trademark "Dia de los Muertos," the name of
the traditional "Day of the Dead" holiday celebrated by millions in
Mexico and the U.S.

"Disney
obviously responded to public pressure," she said. "I guess that's what
happens when you don't have culturally sensitive people as your
advisers."

Many Mexicans and Mexican-Americans observe the
November holiday, which honors deceased relatives and loved ones.
Traditions include cleaning and decorating graves, leaving gift
offerings for the dead and building elaborate shrines decorated with
sugar skulls and marigolds.

Disney Enterprises Inc. hoped to
secure name rights for merchandise such as snack foods and Christmas
ornaments as it partners with Pixar Animation Studios Inc. to create an animated movie inspired by the holiday.

"Disney's
trademark filing was intended to protect any potential title for our
film and related activities," a company statement said. "It has since
been determined that the title of the film will change and therefore we
are withdrawing our trademark filing."

Disney was trying to
infringe "on something that is so uniquely Mexican and
Mexican-American," Alejandro Gradilla, chairman of the Chicana and
Chicano Studies Department at California State University, Fullerton,
told the Register. "I don't think this will be the last time we hear
about a company trying to copyright a holiday."

Had Disney won the
trademark, it might have given the company exclusive rights to use the
name on merchandise, but it wouldn't necessarily have prevented holiday
events, an attorney told the Arizona Republic.

"It
doesn't mean they can stop anyone else from putting on a Dia de los
Muertos celebration or anything on those lines," Michael Campillo said.
"They could stop someone from putting out a movie with the same name, or
other merchandise."

However, Disney erred in trying to trademark a commonly used phrase, he said.

"It
seems odd that they would go out of their way to upset the consuming
public," Campillo said, "a large part of which they're trying to court
for business."